19. The Impossible Dream. I have an admission to make. Earlier during the season, we were gathered at the Birmingham Hotel (pub) pre-game – our usual meeting place for MCG games. I was talking to one of my brother’s friends, Mouse, and was adamant we wouldn’t win a flag under Matthews. At that stage, I just couldn’t see us taking the next step. There was something about Matthews’s coaching which troubled me. Part of it was the insularity. Once you were out of the klique (as Paul Hawke, David Cloke, and Brian Taylor found out), you were gone. Maybe that was part of cultivating a contender, but it also felt…

18. The Finals’ Course. The expectation was that we should beat the West Coast Eagles in the Qualifying Final. They were a good team, but as an interstater, they struggled when travelling – well, maybe struggled isn’t the right word, but they weren’t as good a side as they were at home. There were factors they had to contend with: the long plane flight from West Australia (and in the two weeks previous they’d gone to Carrera and Kardinia Park), acclimating to different weather conditions, as well as playing on a ground which they didn’t use often. We sat in the pocket behind the goals, scoreboard end, on an unseasonally…